Syracuse posted season highs in hits and runs scored in a 17-9 whipping of Rochester. All nine batters hit safely, with seven collecting multiple hits, and three collecting four hits. The Chiefs scored in seven of nine innings and all 17 runs were earned. Austin Bibens-Dirkx couldn’t make it to the 5th, charged with eight runs on seven hits and two walks. Erik Arnesen got the win in relief with a run on one hit and one walk over two and 2/3rds innings.

Harrisburg 3 Trenton 1 — SUSP.
Rain halted play in the bottom of the second with the Senators leading the Thunder, 3-1. The game will be completed tonight, then followed by a seven-inning game. The originally scheduled doubleheader will pushed to tomorrow night.

Nathan Karns finally gave up a HR in High-A, ending a streak 19⅓ scoreless innings while winning his seventh straight game in a 3-1 win over Lynchburg. The 24-y.o. Texan struck out seven and gave up five hits and a walk over six innings. Kevin Keyes, Adrian Sanchez, and Ricky Hague each doubled in the three-run fifth, taking advantage of an error that put on Michael Taylor with two outs. Adam Carr unveiled a knuckleball in his two innings following Karns, walking one and striking out two while Neil Holland pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save. Potomac heads back north for three against Frederick over the weekend.

A pair of three-run rallies, separated by a 98-minute rain delay, powered the Suns past the BlueClaws for an 8-6 win, taking the series 3-1. Taylor Jordan gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks over the first four frames, striking out five. Colin Bates got the win in relief as the pitcher of record while Richie Mirowski worked around two walks in the 9th for his first save at Low-A. Hagerstown pounded out 11 hits, with J.R Higley leading the way with a 3-for-4 night, followed by Bryce Ortega and Caleb Ramsey, who both went 2-for-4 and combined for three runs and three RBI.

Blah blah blahAnthony Rendonblah blah blahhomered in his first at-batblah blah blah as Auburn blah blah blah rallied in the 8th to win their third straight, 6-5. Starter Nick Lee faltered in the 5th and 6th innings, giving up home runs that erased leads of 2-0 and 4-2. He retired the first seven batters he faced, five by way of the K, but finished with a more mundane line of five runs on seven hits and a walk over five and a 1/3rd innings. Pedro Encarnacion picked up the win in relief with three and 2/3rds scoreless innings. Tony Renda led the hit column with a 3-for-5 night, including a game-winning RBI single in the 8th.Roster moves: LHP Andrew Wall assigned from Washington, SS Stephen Perez activated from DL.

A grand slam in the 6th put this one away as the G-Cards swept the G-Nats in this week’s home-and-home with a 5-0 shutout. Daury Vasquez took the loss with four runs on four hits and two walks over five-plus innings. The G-Nats were held to just four hits and seven baserunners total, going 0-for-5 with RISP. Roster move: RHP Mike Shultz was released earlier this week.

The D-Nats made the most of their scoring chances, racking up 10 runs on 12 hits in a 10-2 romp over the DSL Yankees1. Rafael Bautista wreaked havoc from the leadoff spot with a single, double, two walks, two RBI, three stolen bases and four runs scored. The team went 8-for-17 with RISP and left just five runners on base. Emmanuel De La Cruz started and tossed two perfect innings before giving way to Philips Valdez, who got the win with two runs allowed on six hits and two walks over five and 2/3rds innings with three strikeouts.

In fact, I think I read an article stating that he had an innings cap.

“As well as Karns was working in tandem with his defenders, there always begs the question of why he couldn’t go an extra inning or two. However, with the 24-year-old pitching his first full season after undergoing shoulder surgery in 2010, he knows there’s a plan to limit his innings, no matter the result.

‘There’s definitely an itch to get back out there,’ Karns said. ‘But they’ve got limits on all of us here and my only real goal for the year is to finish it off healthy. So that made the decision easy today.’ ”

Because there is also the chance that he has not proven himself since he’s only faced six of the seven teams in Carolina League (still hasn’t faced the #1 offense of Winston-Salem) and the #2 and #3 teams once apiece. It’s not unheard of for a pitcher to plow through the league on the first pass and then get stomped on like a narc at biker rally the second time around (see: Rosenbaum, Danny). I don’t wish that on him, but I know it can happen because I’ve seen it. Many times.

Thanks for the link, actually didn’t realize until reading that Auburn is in 1st place. Good news.
The article reinforces how odd it must be in the GCL, playing morning games with absolutely no one watching.

I just was reminded of how long Seth Bynum has been in the system – he was drafted in 2003 by the Expos. Played in 848 games with nearly 2800 At Bats. Who has the organizational record for MiLB appearances? If Bynum doesn’t have it, I really wonder who does.